1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charged particle system, a particle-optical component and a charged particle inspection method.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
With regard to the continuous development of ever smaller and more sophisticated microstructures such as semiconductor chips there is a need for further development and optimisation of both lithography and inspection systems for writing or inspecting, respectively, the required small dimensions of the microstructures. In addition, high throughput of production and examination of the microstructures is an important economic factor that places further demands on the performance required of lithography and inspection tools.
The decrease of critical dimensions of the microstructures has led to increased use of charged particle beam systems due to the ability of charged particle beams to provide higher resolution as compared to conventionally used wavelengths of light. To meet the requirement of high throughput in inspection and manufacture, there is also a growing trend towards a parallelization of processing using a multitude of charged particle beams rather than a single charged particle beam. This approach may involve use of a single source of charged particles with subsequent splitting of a beam generated by the source or parallel use of a multitude of sources, for instance.
Given the fast developments in this field, it is also desirable to provide tools that support and facilitate the development and construction of new charged particle systems.
In addition, there is a need for charged particle systems and components thereof which allow simple and fast handling of a multitude of charged particle beamlets.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a charged particle system and a charged particle inspection method that allow examination of processes occurring during at least one of inspection and manufacture of microstructures using plural charged particle beamlets.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a charged particle system and component of such a system that allows fast simultaneous deflection of a multitude of charged particle beamlets.